Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/333

Religious Architecture. 303 monuments, placed on one side of the cliff in the Salih valley. They form niches, with menhirs standing singly or in groups of two or three (Fig. 205). 1 Opposite to these are the remains of a great hall, called Divan, scooped out of the rock and without Fig. 204. — Subterraneous Chamber. Medain-Salih. DOUGHTY, Plate XLIV. f~- -T =* niches. It has no outlet towards the valley, but its whole length is open at the back, with two pillars as centre (Fig. 204). There is nothing about these structures either constructively or in their mode of ornament to indicate a funereal purpose, the decoration being represented by exceedingly rude figures outlined on the wall, apparently of no special meaning. On the other hand, all the evidence goes to prove that these menhirs are baetuli, i.e. traditional and elementary images of the deity, playing here the same part as the central menhir of a Moabite circle, the conical stone of the Cypriote temple, the cippus of the Lilybaean stela ; 2 whilst inscriptions seem to have been placed 1 Ph. Berger, L Arable, avant Mahomet a! après les Inscriptions, p. 19, 1885. See Doughty, Documents éplgraphlques du nord de V Arable, pp. 21-23, Plates XLIV., XLV., XLVI. 2 Hist, of Art, torn. iii. pp. 60 ; 265, 266 ; 273 ; 298, 299 ; 304, 305 ; 308 ; 639. 205. — Niche. Medain-Salih. Doughty, Plate XLV.